Why so many?<\\/h3>\\n Why this big number? Melton writes that Smith \\u201cbuilt into the system a ready-made impetus to schism\\u201d because his example of proclaiming modern divine revelations \\u201ccontinually excited would-be prophets into action.\\u201d Melton divides the \\u201cLatter-day Saints Family\\u201d into four categories: Utah Mormons<\\/a>, Missouri Mormons, the \\u201cfundamentalist\\u201d sects that perpetuate Smith\\u2019s polygamy teaching the major LDS church suspended in 1890, and assorted others.<\\/p>\\n The especially intriguing \\u201cChurch of Christ\\u201d claims to uniquely preserve God\\u2019s original 1830 restoration led by 12 apostles before Smith consolidated one-man rule. This tiny group owns the exact \\u201cTemple Lot\\u201d in Independence, Missouri, that Smith dedicated in 1831 for the future building where Jesus Christ would reign upon his Second Coming. Across the corner stands the Community of Christ\\u2019s Temple, dedicated in 1994.<\\/p>\\n LDS splits also originated because Smith never publicly proclaimed an agreed successor. The founder was only 39 when he was assassinated in 1844, jailed because as the theocratic mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, he ordered destruction of a dissident newspaper\\u2019s press. Research by the late LDS historian D. Michael Quinn (later excommunicated) found that Smith privately designated at least six successors.<\\/p>\\n

{"id":4121,"date":"2024-03-30T13:25:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-30T17:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionqanda\/?p=4121"},"modified":"2024-03-30T19:30:25","modified_gmt":"2024-03-30T23:30:25","slug":"why-so-many-splits-in-the-latter-day-saints-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionqanda\/2024\/03\/why-so-many-splits-in-the-latter-day-saints-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"Why so many splits in the Latter-day Saints tradition?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

"SLC <\/a>

LDS Temple in Salt Lake City: Famous, but Kirtland came first \/ pixabay.com free images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

THE RELIGION GUY\u2019S ANSWER:<\/p>\n

History was made this month when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> (\u201cLDS\u201d) paid a rival denomination $192.5 million to purchase the faith\u2019s first temple in Kirtland, Ohio, along with other properties and sacred manuscripts. The buyer and seller are the two largest among 68 branches that have emerged from U.S. Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr.\u2019s latter-day revelations between 1830 and 1844.<\/p>\n

The Utah-based LDS church<\/a> (which rejected its familiar \u201cMormon\u201d nickname in 2018) is huge and wealthy. The seller was the much smaller, Missouri-based \u201cCommunity of Christ\u201d (which dropped its\u00a0 \u201cReorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints\u201d name in 2001) owned the temple the past 144 years but needs the money. Both denominations revere the temple, though it operated only two years before Saints began leaving Kirtland amid bank fraud charges against leaders.<\/p>\n

The 68 number relative to memberships very likely exceeds that for any other U.S. religious heritage. The count comes from the invaluable \u201cEncyclopedia of American Religions\u201d by Baylor University expert J. Gordon Melton. The\u00a0 little churchlets range from the polygamous Apostolic United Brethren to the communal Zion\u2019s Order, often with confusingly similar names. Many are now defunct.<\/p>\n

Why so many?<\/h3>\n Why this big number? Melton writes that Smith \u201cbuilt into the system a ready-made impetus to schism\u201d because his example of proclaiming modern divine revelations \u201ccontinually excited would-be prophets into action.\u201d Melton divides the \u201cLatter-day Saints Family\u201d into four categories: Utah Mormons<\/a>, Missouri Mormons, the \u201cfundamentalist\u201d sects that perpetuate Smith\u2019s polygamy teaching the major LDS church suspended in 1890, and assorted others.<\/p>\n The especially intriguing \u201cChurch of Christ\u201d claims to uniquely preserve God\u2019s original 1830 restoration led by 12 apostles before Smith consolidated one-man rule. This tiny group owns the exact \u201cTemple Lot\u201d in Independence, Missouri, that Smith dedicated in 1831 for the future building where Jesus Christ would reign upon his Second Coming. Across the corner stands the Community of Christ\u2019s Temple, dedicated in 1994.<\/p>\n LDS splits also originated because Smith never publicly proclaimed an agreed successor. The founder was only 39 when he was assassinated in 1844, jailed because as the theocratic mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, he ordered destruction of a dissident newspaper\u2019s press. Research by the late LDS historian D. Michael Quinn (later excommunicated) found that Smith privately designated at least six successors.<\/p>\n

Six designated successors<\/h3>\n \ Oliver Cowdery was an official LDS Witness (granted a vision of the vanished plates from which Smith translated the Book of Mormon),\u00a0 the first recipient of restored \u00a0priesthood, and\u00a0 church vice president. He\u2019s named in 50 Smith revelations collected in LDS scriptures. But he was excommunicated in 1838 after accusing Smith of adultery. In 1848, Cowdery renounced his succession claim.<\/p>\n \ David Whitmer, another plates Witness, was also excommunicated in 1938. He then founded his own schismatic \u201cChurch of Christ\u201d in 1847 with support from all other Witnesses, but the movement collapsed.<\/p>\n \ Hyrum Smith, the prophet\u2019s brother, had a strong claim as the church Patriarch (an office eliminated in 1979), but was assassinated alongside Joseph. Samuel Smith, another brother and thus next in line as Patriarch, died only weeks after Joseph and Hyrum. The apparent cause was fever from hard horse-riding during the assassination rioting, but rumors blamed poisoning by rivals.<\/p>\n \ The founder formalized oldest son Joseph III\u2019s patrilineal claim at age six. By 1860 he was the founding head of the rival Reorganized Church with its many Smith family members. Joseph III and his widowed mother Emma denied the prophet ever taught polygamy (a Reorganized Church tenet its historians have refuted since 1986).<\/p>\n \ A sixth claimant was David Hyrum Smith, the founder\u2019s only publicly acknowledged child from marriage with Emma ritually \u201csealed for time and eternity.\u201d David spurned offers of high Utah rank if he would endorse polygamy, became a Reorganized Church official, and\u00a0 spent his last 27 years in an insane asylum.<\/p>\n \ Then seven more<\/h3>\n \ Seven other acolytes made succession bids of varying veracity.<\/p>\n \ Sidney Rigdon was the church\u2019s only First Presidency member upon Smith\u2019s assassination because anti-polygamist William Law was excommunicated, and Smith chose him as running mate with his 1844 \u201cReform Party\u201d run for\u00a0 U.S. president. Yet \u00a0Rigdon was alienated from the prophet over polygamy,\u00a0 lost the election to be successor, was excommunicated, and led two breakaways while a disciple founded the Bickertonite branch.<\/p>\n \ William Smith, yet another brother of the prophet, was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Patriarch after Hyrum and Samuel died. But he was unstable, excommunicated, joined two schisms, founded his own sect, then joined the Reorganized Church.<\/p>\n \ William Marks had been president of the High Council that administered Nauvoo under Smith, joined three schisms in turn, then became a Reorganized Church leader.<\/p>\n \ Lyman Wight was an Apostle and a leader in the Council of Fifty, the secretive political body Smith established in 1844. He thought William Smith should reign as regent until Joseph III was old enough to take command, was excommunicated, and went with the Reorganized Church.<\/p>\n \ Alphonse Cutler, another Council of Fifty member, originally backed Marks, then claimed the prophet privately named himself as successor and created the Cutlerite denomination in 1853.<\/p>\n \ James Strang, a charismatic recent convert, likewise claimed Smith\u2019s private designation as successor. His schism attracted Marks, William Smith, other Smith relatives and LDS notables. Strang later claimed to unearth a second set of scriptural plates, was crowned a king, and murdered in 1856 though Strangites lived on.<\/p>\n \ Then came Brigham<\/strong><\/h3>\n \ Finally, number 13. Brigham Young, president of the Quorum of the Twelve, beat Rigdon in the membership\u2019s ballot after Smith died. After a collective regime, Young was finally proclaimed president in 1847 after outstanding leadership of the pioneer trek from Nauvoo to found Salt Lake City. In 1872, he adopted Smith\u2019s other titles of \u201cProphet, Seer, and Revelator.\u201d<\/p>\n \ The Reorganized Church believed Smith\u2019s family line must produce the leaders and spurned Brigham Young. There\u2019s a close parallel in Islam. The founding Prophet Muhammad died in 632, also without clearly designating his successor. The Shia party believed the next leader had to come from the prophet\u2019s family while Sunnis favored consensus on the most capable insider. The resulting split, oft-troublesome, has persisted through Muslim history to the present day.<\/p>\n \ Disclosure: The Religion Guy is the co-author of \u201cMormon America: The Power and the Promise\u201d (HarperOne, 1999, revised edition 2007).<\/p>\n \ \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \ THE RELIGION GUY\u2019S ANSWER: History was made this month when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (\u201cLDS\u201d) paid a rival denomination $192.5 million to purchase the faith\u2019s first temple in Kirtland, Ohio, along with other properties and sacred manuscripts. The buyer and seller are the two largest among 68 branches that have emerged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1275,"featured_media":4127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[359,350,353,356,344,347],"class_list":["post-4121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-community-of-christ","tag-mormon","tag-joseph-smith-jr","tag-kirtland-temple","tag-latter-day-saints","tag-lds"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy so many splits in the Latter-day Saints tradition?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"THE RELIGION GUY\u2019S ANSWER: History was made this month when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (\u201cLDS\u201d) paid a rival denomination $192.5\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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Ostling was a longtime religion writer with The Associated Press and with Time\u00a0magazine, where he produced 23 cover stories, as well as a Time\u00a0senior correspondent providing field reportage for dozens of major articles. He has interviewed personalities such as Billy Graham, the Dalai Lama, the late Mother Teresa, and the late Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI); ranking rabbis and Muslim leaders; and authorities on other faiths, as well as numerous ordinary believers. Ostling was the first correspondent regularly covering religion for a network TV newscast, working part-time with the PBS NewsHour\u00a0and airing CBS Radio religion reports for two decades. He and his late wife Joan coauthored Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (1999, revised 2007, HarperOne), which The New York Times Book Review praised as \\\"eminently fair\\\" and \\\"well-researched.\\\" Professional distinctions include a Pulitzer Prize nomination; \u00a0the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Religion Newswriters Association (for specialists in the general media), and religion writing honors from the American Academy of Religion, Episcopal Church, and Religion Communicators Council. In one MediaGuide edition, Ostling was the only Time staff member ranked among the nation's \\\"highest rated journalists.\\\" He is listed in Who's Who in America. 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Ostling was a longtime religion writer with The Associated Press and with Time\u00a0magazine, where he produced 23 cover stories, as well as a Time\u00a0senior correspondent providing field reportage for dozens of major articles. He has interviewed personalities such as Billy Graham, the Dalai Lama, the late Mother Teresa, and the late Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI); ranking rabbis and Muslim leaders; and authorities on other faiths, as well as numerous ordinary believers. Ostling was the first correspondent regularly covering religion for a network TV newscast, working part-time with the PBS NewsHour\u00a0and airing CBS Radio religion reports for two decades. He and his late wife Joan coauthored Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (1999, revised 2007, HarperOne), which The New York Times Book Review praised as \"eminently fair\" and \"well-researched.\" Professional distinctions include a Pulitzer Prize nomination; \u00a0the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Religion Newswriters Association (for specialists in the general media), and religion writing honors from the American Academy of Religion, Episcopal Church, and Religion Communicators Council. In one MediaGuide edition, Ostling was the only Time staff member ranked among the nation's \"highest rated journalists.\" He is listed in Who's Who in America. Ostling earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan (With High Distinction, Phi Beta Kappa), an M.A. in religion from George Washington University, and an M.S.J. from Northwestern University's School of Journalism, which named him a charter member of its Alumni Hall of Achievement.\u00a0 The father of two adult daughters, he lives and works in northern New Jersey and is an active lay member of Ramapo Reformed Church.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionqanda\/author\/religionqanda\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionqanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionqanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionqanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionqanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionqanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionqanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionqanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionqanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionqanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionqanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}